Abstract:
The Bill of Rights (Chapter 2) in the construction of the Republic of South Africa, Act No 108 of 1996, enshrines the rights of everyone to be free from all forms of violence, not
to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman and degrading manner.
In 1996 corporal punishment was banned in South African schools. According to the South African Schools Act No 840 (1996), it is the responsibility of the School Governing Body to involve all the stakeholders at the school to design and adopt a code of conduct (Department of Education, 2000).
The school will then provide alternative methods of corporal punishment and promote discipline without using punishment on learners.
This study aimed to explore attitudes of black educators towards corporal punishment and alternative methods of punishment in UThungulu District KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study has revealed that most educators, especially young educators, have positive attitudes towards the alternatives to corporal punishment. Some educators feel that corporal punishment still has a place in society.
The findings also revealed that corporal punishment is still used by educators despite the legal ban. Indeed the escalation of learner indiscipline cases in South African schools suggests failures by educators to institute adequate alternative disciplinary measures after corporal punishment was banned in South Africa (Maphosa & Shumba, 2010). Educators feel disempowered in their abilities to institute discipline in schools in the absence of corporal punishment. They view alternatives as ineffective and time consuming.
